2023 Essay Competition NEW DEADLINE 10 OCTOBER

Are you an undergraduate or graduate student, interested in researching the legal and governance challenges posed by climate change? 

Do you have ideas for how legal instruments and institutional reforms can contribute to addressing climate change challenges? 

Consider submitting your ideas for the 2023 Global Climate Law and Governance Essay Competition! Note deadline extended to October 10. See below for more details:

One of the CLGI’s pillars focuses on involving students and young people from different regions in its activities so as to enhance long term capacity strengthening.

Are you an undergraduate or graduate student, interested in researching the legal and governance challenges posed by climate change? Do you have ideas for how legal instruments and institutional reforms can contribute to addressing climate change challenges? Consider submitting your ideas for the 2022 Global Climate Law and Governance Essay Competition!

2022 GLOBAL CLIMATE LAW AND GOVERNANCE ESSAY COMPETITION DETAILS:

Entries are now open and will close on 1 September 2022 (extended deadline).

TOPICS: Essays can address any aspect of law and governance related to climate change or sustainable development, from local to global. This may include principles or provisions of the Paris Agreement and its Katowice Rulebook; recent trends in climate change dispute settlement and litigation; the challenges and opportunities of design, implementation and reform of legal and institutional frameworks for climate mitigation, adaptation/resilience or finance; climate aspects of trade and investment instruments; and human rights and climate justice.

Essays may also address any aspect of themes to be released for CLGI’s upcoming Climate Law and Governance Day 2022, which will take place alongside COP27. Information regarding finalized themes will be posted in due course.

ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students. Students from least developed countries are especially encouraged to apply. Submissions may be co-authored.

REQUIREMENTS: Essays should be 2,000 to 4,000 words (excluding footnotes), in English, Spanish, French or Arabic. Double spacing is required. OSCOLA, Red Book and Blue Book are encouraged referencing styles (with footnotes), however, any accepted social sciences referencing style will also be accepted.

WINNERS: Winners will be announced in an awards ceremony alongside COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The best entries will be published by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, and authors will be invited to submit their articles to McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law for possible publication. Authors will also have the opportunity to participate in the climate moot held during the 2022 Climate Law and Governance Day if they so desire.

SUBMISSION: Send your entry and a SHORT BIOGRAPHY to climate-essay@cisdl.org by 19 July 2022.

See the following flyers for more information in English, French and Spanish. The Arabic translation will be uploaded soon.

This annual essay competition is brought together by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law, The University of Cambridge, the Faculty of Law at the University of Nairobi, the CR2 at the University of Chile, the Ateneo School of Governance in Manila, the University of the South Pacific and others, and is supported by the partners of Climate Law and Governance Day 2022.

Global Essay Competition 2022 in Spanish

Are you an undergraduate or graduate student, interested in researching the legal and governance challenges posed by climate change? Do you have ideas for how legal instruments and institutional reforms can contribute to addressing climate change challenges? Consider submitting your ideas for the 2020 Global Climate Law and Governance Essay Competition!

2021 GLOBAL CLIMATE LAW AND GOVERNANCE ESSAY COMPETITION DETAILS:

Entries are now open and will close on 30 September 2021. 

TOPICS: Essays can address any aspect of law and governance related to climate change or sustainable development, from local to global. This may include principles or provisions of the Paris Agreement and its Katowice Rulebook; recent trends in climate change dispute settlement and litigation; the challenges and opportunities of design, implementation and reform of legal and institutional frameworks for climate mitigation, adaptation/resilience or finance; climate aspects of trade and investment instruments; and human rights and climate justice.   Essays may also address any aspect of themes to be released for CLGI’s upcoming Climate Law and Governance Day 2021, which will take place alongside COP26. Information regarding finalized themes will be posted in due course.

ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students. Students from least developed countries are especially encouraged to apply. Submissions may be co-authored.

REQUIREMENTS: Essays should be 2,000 to 4,000 words (excluding footnotes), in English, Spanish or French. Double spacing is required. OSCOLA, Red Book and Blue Book are encouraged referencing styles (with footnotes), however, any accepted social sciences referencing style will also be accepted.

WINNERS: Winners will be announced in an awards ceremony alongside COP26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. The best entries will be published by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, and authors will be invited to submit their articles to McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law for possible publication. Authors will also have the opportunity to participate in the climate moot held during the 2020 Climate Law and Governance Day if they so desire.

SUBMISSION: Send your entry and a SHORT BIOGRAPHY to climate-essay@cisdl.org by  30 September 2021.

This annual essay competition is brought together by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law, The University of Cambridge, the Faculty of Law at the University of Nairobi, the CR2 at the University of Chile, the Ateneo School of Governance in Manila, the University of the South Pacific and others, and is supported by the partners of Climate Law and Governance Day 2021.

Congratulations to all who participated in the 2019 Global Student Essay Competition. Read about the finalists here

Congratulations to all who participated in the 2018 Global Student Essay Competition. The winners are: GOLD: Sujay Natson – Singapore Jellie Molino – Phillipines SILVER: Stine Bagge – Sweden Anna Zam – New Zealand Smith Wonderson Chaoneka – Malawi BRONZE: Filip Nawrot & Michal Labno – Poland Pauline Le Fur – France Nina Araneta-Alana – Phillipines Paul Rink – USA HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Wahyu Syafi’ul Mubarok – Indonesia Nurul Hasanah – Indonesia Aayush Pandey – India Congratulations again to all who participated. If you are an undergraduate or graduate student who is passionate about climate law and governance, make sure to look out for future essay competitions and opportunities offered by CLGI.

Congratulations to all who participated in the 2017 Global Climate Law and Governance Essay Competition. The award winners are as follows:

GOLD:

• Amiel Ian Valdez (The Republic of the Philippines) for the submission entitled Examining the Extent and Limits of the Philippine Writ of Kalikasan as a Tool to Compel the Government to Fulfill its Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement
• Tara Atleo (Canada) for the submission entitled The Importance of Locally Developed Indigenous Planning Tools and Policy for Climate Change Action in Ahousaht Traditional Territories
• Mariam Rita Fawole Masini (São Tomé and Príncipe) for the submission entitled African SIDS under the International Climate Change Regime: Opportunities and Challenges for Regional Cooperation in Operationalising the Paris Agreement

SILVER:

• Olga Lucia Carreno-Quintero (Colombia) for the submission entitled Sustainable Development and Climate Change Mitigation in the Clean Development Mechanism: The Colombian Experience
• Kate Donely (The Republic of Vanuatu) for the submission entitled Climate Law and Governance Innovations for Food Security in Vanuatu
• Louise Fournier (Canada) for the submission entitled The Cost of Inaction: The Role of Courts in Climate Change Litigation

BRONZE:

• Priyashna Mani (The Republic of Vanuatu) for the submissino entitled Loss and Damage and the Relationship to Human Rights Law and Policy in the Context of South Pacific
• Robera Haile Hamda (The Republic of Ethiopia) for the submission entitled An Essay on the Role of Law and Governance in Climate Resilience and Climate Justice
• Kirsten Davies (Australia) for the submission entitled The Namele Mechanism
• Christopher D’Souza (Canada) for the submission entitled Who Speaks for the Rivers, and Who Speaks for the Trees?
• Grace Inostroza (The Republic of Chile) for the submission entitled¿Cuál es el Papel de la ley y la Gobernanza en el Avance de la Resiliencia Climática y la Justicia Climática?
• Marellia Auger (France) for the submission entitled Quel est le rôle du droit et de la gouvernance dans la promotion de la résilience et de la justice climatique? 

Congratulations again to all who were involved. If you are a student who is passionate about climate law and governance issues, look out for future essay competitions offered by the CLGI, and other opportunities to be involved in climate law and governance.

The winners of the 2016 CISDL Legal Essay Competition On Climate Change, Sustainable Development and the Law: Governance Challenges and Innovations have now been announced. Very strong entries were received from talented students from across the globe writing on the topics of:

1. What are the most pressing legal and governance challenges in responding to the threats and opportunities of climate change?
2. How can local and national law be harnessed for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, especially the new Paris Agreement?
3. Which innovative legal and institutional instruments and practices hold potential to help address these challenges, at national or local levels?
4. How can climate law and governance innovations be implemented across diverse sectors for more sustainable development?

The award-winning entries were announced in a special awards ceremony at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (CoP22) in Marrakesh, Morocco, and the best winning essays will be published internationally by the CISDL in 2017.

Winners

• Gold Winners: The French language gold awards were presented to Guy-Jules Kounga (Cameroon) and Zineb Hamdoune (Morocco). The English language gold awards were presented to Clarice Wambua (Kenya), Maoulainine Yahjabouha and Fatim Ezzahra Haytoumi (Morocco), and Conner Tidd (Canada).
• Silver Winners: The French language silver awards were presented to Ossama Azzouzi (Morocco), Marie-Bernard Dhedya Lonu (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Yepery Coulibaly and Asmaa Mahmoudi (Morocco). The English language silver awards were presented to Tatiana Abarca Alvarez (Costa Rica), Félix Leyman (Belgium), Joshua Smith (Canda), and Marianne Daval (France).
• Bronze Awards: In recognition of the high quality submissions received this year, the judging panel also awarded bronze awards and honourable mentions to Hanh Nguyen (Vietnam), Nicolas Blanc (France), Júlia Oliveira Rosa (Brazil), and M. Hussein Ait Belaid and Najwa Azami Idrissi (Morocco).

Organised by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), in cooperation with the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (LCIL) at the University of Cambridge, the Centre for Research on Climate Resilience (CR2) at the University of Chile, and the Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP) of the University of Nairobi, the legal essay competition was open to students of law and related fields at the undergraduate and graduate level, from all regions of the world.     Successful finalists were also invited to prepare a brief oral argument based on a hypothetical climate litigation fact pattern provided, for a special moot during Climate Law and Governance Day 2016 on the 11th of November. ‎

There are currently no open opportunities.

There are currently no open opportunities.

There are currently no open opportunities.